Bengal beat Punjab to win Santosh Trophy for record 30th time

KOLKATA - Bengal defeated Punjab 2-1 to win the 64th Santosh Trophy national football championship after 11 years here Sunday. It was a record 30th win for Bengal.

Denson Devadas scored two goals for Bengal after Balwant Singh had given the lead to Punjab in the 30th minute.

The hosts came back, cheered by 15,000 fans at the Salt Lake Stadium, as Devadas struck twice (45+2nd, 78th minute) to romp home.

Bengal has never lost a Santosh Trophy at home.

Eight-time winners Punjab fell short of winning their third title in four years.

Bengal dominated from the start, but it was Punjab who took the lead against the run of play as Balwant headed home a Rahul Kumar cross from the right.

Devadas then levelled, scoring in the second minute of the added time with a sharp header off a Snehashis Chakraborty corner.

Bengal dictated the course of play in the second half as Snehashis made incisive moves and Devadas, Jayanta Sen and Dhanarajan manned the midfield. They combined well and came close to scoring, before Devadas struck a scorching left-footer from 25 yards to seal the issue.

“This is a memorable day in my career. I want to savour the moment,” said Devadas, who was adjudged the Man of the Match.

“The players and coach Sabbir Ali deserve all the credit the way the team played in the tournament. It was not easy to play five matches in eight days,” the Keralite added.

Ali praised the players for the fine victory.

“Bengal players were left out from the national team probables list despite some of them like Snehashis and Arnab Mondal doing consistently well in the I-League. Hopefully, their performance will not go unnoticed after this victory,” he said.